Mobs demanding to know their religion

The murderous riots in Delhi are absolutely fucking horrifying – a reprise of Partition and the Ayodhya riots.

Twenty-three people have been killed so far in the deadliest violence the Indian capital has seen in decades.

Photographs, videos and accounts on social media paint a chilling image of the last few days – of mostly Hindu mobs beating unarmed men, including journalists; of groups of men with sticks, iron rods and stones wandering the streets; and of Hindus and Muslims facing off.

Some 189 people are injured, according to officials at the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, where many of them have been admitted.

BBC reporters at the hospital say they saw people with all sorts of injuries, including bullet wounds, scrambling for treatment. They say the hospital seemed “overwhelmed”, and many of the injured were “too scared to go back home”.

Many, including journalists, have tweeted and spoken of mobs demanding to know their religion. At least one photojournalist said he was asked to remove his pants to prove his religious identity. This has also happened during religious riots in the past to identify Muslims as they are usually circumcised.

That’s where fetishistic ideas about “validity” get you.

Modi is a Hindu nationalist. Religious nationalism is a short straight road to violence and genocide.

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